Help with draw shot/stroke please!!!

K

krlk

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
i have a short video of me trying a draw shot. distance between balls is about half a table. i am struggling as you can see. to me it seems like i am not lining up correctly. it drives me nuts. any advice appreciated on how to improve situation please.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFYFEX5Vz9M
 
First of all--set the shot up the same way each time--if you look at the vid, your not straight in on each shot--set the balls up as straight in as possible, then work on the shot--first couple of shots were as good as it gets--but then what ever happened , happened--work from the same set up to find what's wrong--you could make a mark on the table with chalk to set each ball up so that they are the same each time--take your time and rehearse the shot in your own routine--another thing --on a shot like this --use a closed bridge and hold the cue firmly with your grip while stroking the ball--not real tight--just firm--and shoot with Authority.
 
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krlk said:
i have a short video of me trying a draw shot. distance between balls is about half a table. i am struggling as you can see. to me it seems like i am not lining up correctly. it drives me nuts. any advice appreciated on how to improve situation please.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFYFEX5Vz9M
Click to expand...
You're doing two things wrong that I can see:

1. Your back hand swoops out to your right at the end of your stroke, which makes your tip swoop to your left. Be sure your back hand follows straight through to the same point on your chest each time, and watch your tip to be sure it follows straight through the cue ball.

2. You raise your head a little during your shot stroke. Don't do that.

pj
chgo

P.S. An open bridge and loose grip are fine.
 
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Only looking at your video once, I have a few suggestions.

I noticed that you tend to jump up at the conclusion of the shot. I could not tell if you are jumping up at contact with the ball or after because of the quality of the video. You must focus on staying down through the end of the shot.

From the back view, I saw your cradle hand tighten up significantly at the end of the shot, You start with a nice loose cradle, then at impact tighten up your hand. This can interfere with a straight stroke. Focus on keeping your backhand loose throughout the stroke.

Think about your natural rhythm, when you are shooting your best what is it. I saw you do well with 4 practice strokes. Then I saw a number of shots you missed where it looked to me like you one stroked the ball, then on the backhand view I saw a number of times you stroking 7-9 practice strokes, and missing some more. Find the rhythm that works for you and stick with it.

You may want to make this drill a bit easier on yourself by putting the balls closer together. Remember we all learn to crawl, and walk before we run. Look up progressive practice drills on this site. They are very effective, basically start out closer together with the balls, and then as you become proficient move them further apart. Also be more careful on the balls placement, try to line the balls up perfectly straight with the pocket. This way you will be able to tell a bit more about the quality of your stroke when you draw the ball back.

Hope this helps.
 
Two things, in addition to the other fine suggestions that have already been made.

Some shooters think they are hitting a particular spot on the cue ball every time but in actuality they aren't hitting where they think they are hitting. I suggest for you to clean the cue ball THOROUGHLY and then chalk your tip liberally. Place the cue ball so that the red circle, red dot or other markings are at the vertical equator on the cue ball and then go through your pre-shot routine and put your best effort into making the shot and drawing the cue ball. AFterwards, compare your results with where you hit the cue ball. Just pick up the cue ball carefully and look for the blue mark on the cue ball. That will give you plenty of information for you to assimilate and decide where you go from there.

Secondly, contrary to some believers, hitting the cue ball at the lowest possible spot on the cue ball DOES NOT yield the greatest draw, ESPECIALLY on long distance power draw shots. AT least that's been my experience.

I experiment with power draw shots. Object ball one diamond away from the foot rail, cue ball on the head string or one diamond behind the head string. Most of the time, I leave the cue ball on the head string when practicing the power draw because I don't have to worry as much about elevating my cue stick too much.

Ok, one more thing. lol, a very good player from England visited my pool room recently and he could draw the cue ball as good as anyone I've ever seen. He credited his consistency in excellence with being able to hit the cue ball in the necessary place every time. I noticed that on his last stroke, he had an extraordinarily long back-swing. He also stayed exceptionally still as he hit the cue ball.

Hope that helps.

P.S. Shape your tip carefully and always chalk well on every shot. :wink:
 
You might experiment with standing a little higher in the shot, definitely makes long draw shots much easier for me. I shoot very accurately with my chin on the cue, but my stroking power and speed control suffer. Just something to try.
 
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